This ethnographic study (9 months, 52 recorded strategy meetings) develops a process model showing how middle managers handle negative emotions in team meetings to support strategy implementation. The authors identify a three-phase emotion-regulation sequence – understanding emotional status, interpersonal tuning (acknowledge/validate/amplify), and encouraging reappraisal – and show how timing and relational practices shape whether resistance becomes constructive engagement.
Authors & affiliations:
- Henrika Franck (United Arab Emirates University)
- Philip Gylfe (Aalto University)
- Timo Vuori (Aalto University)
- Eero Vaara (University of Oxford)
